Selectmen Discuss Options for Mt. Wayte Shopping Center

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Selectmen again discussed the future of the , this time during a joint meeting with the Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC).

“We have reason to believe Nobscot is on its way up,” said Alison Steinfeld, Director of Community and Economic Development. “We would like to apply the planning process from Nobscot to Mt. Wayte.”

That planning process uses the Master Plan as a guide and includes gathering data, generating alternatives, and asking for public input.

Steinfeld said “it’s conceivable” that the town could ultimately take the shopping center by eminent domain.

Selectmen Vice Chair Charles Sisitsky asked about working with the owner of the plaza, but Steinfeld said the owner has, thus far, been unreceptive to working with the town.

Selectman Ginger Esty said the eminent domain issue should not be part of the discussion at this point since it might make the owner less likely to work with the town, and because eminent domain has to go through town meeting. However, Selectman Dennis Giombetti strongly disagreed.

“There’s a lot of things we have to go to Town Meeting for and we don’t take it off the table because of that,” Giombetti said, adding that being a land owner comes with responsibilities for the property. “I don’t believe the owner of Mt. Wayte has demonstrated responsibility other than paying taxes,” he said.

The Selectmen agreed the potential should be part of the Mt. Wayte plan, and ultimately charged the EDIC with looking into it. They also authorized the EDIC to start on a plan for Mt. Wayte, and directed the town manager to ask for an expedited plan for the intersection from the Public Works department.

In another agenda item, residents of the asked Selectmen to review the way their water and sewer use is billed. 68% of the condo complex is located in Framingham, with the remainder sits in Natick. In 2007, Framingham started billing the condo at the higher out-of-town water and sewer usage rate for the Natick portion of the bill. Residents would like to be assessed the in-town rate. 

Selectmen asked whether children in the Natick portion of the condos attended Framingham public schools, and charged the Town Manager with investigating that. They also asked the Town Manager to look at the monthly billing cycle for the condo complex and see if it should be billed quarterly.

All Selectmen seemed frustrated by the complexity of dealing with a property that straddles two towns.

“This is an example of why we’re advised by the MWRA not to be slopping over our boundaries,” said Esty. 

Selectmen voted to have town council look at the master deed for the property and how the parcels are laid out to see if they adhere to the water and sewer billing policy.

The Selectmen took up three more issues before adjourning for the night:

• at 271 Worcester Rd. was granted consideration of new officers/directors, transfer of stock, and change of manager.

• Selectmen voted to grant authorization to the to execute Access Agreements for the purposes of collecting engineering and environmental data via test borings. 

• Selectman Esty asked the Town Manager to check the status and use of the River Path as it related to and an 18-wheeler regularly parked on that road.